Testimony wraps up at manslaughter trial for 2016 crash

Newsham, who said he was completely sober that night, denied they were chasing the vehicle, instead using the word ‘follow.’ While on Highway 21, Newsham gave his phone to Raniseth so he could call a local RCMP officer.

Asked if they were given instructions by the officer, Newsham admitted, “Yes,” and that the advice was to, “Stop following him.”

“Did you?” asked defence lawyer Balfour Der. “No,” Newsham responded.

When asked why, Newsham claimed he was really curious where the driver of the Dakota was going and wanted to let police know.

Both vehicles, the Dakota and Newsham’s orange Dodge pickup, eventually turned onto Highway 42 westbound. A little later, both vehicles again turned down a gravel road before driving south for about six to eight miles and arriving at a farmyard.

There, the driver of the Dakota crashed the vehicle into some bulk tanks, got out and ran into the woods before jumping in another vehicle – a Ford F150 – and drove away from the property, striking another vehicle along the way.

As Newsham and Raniseth pulled up, another man who claimed the Ford F150 was his jumped into Newsham’s truck to join the pursuit.

Newsham followed the Ford back towards Highway 42, though a bit further behind, he said. Once on the highway he said they accelerated to catch up with the Ford, staying three to five car lengths behind.

In his testimony on Friday, Raniseth, who does odd jobs for and remains friends with Newsham, says it was he who then suggested they speed up to try and pass the Ford. Newsham had said prior that he couldn’t remember whose idea it was.

Both Newsham and Raniseth then describe a hectic scenario which played out in a matter of seconds.

“We were in the right lane driving straight. Dan (Newsham) moved the truck from the right lane to the left lane to pass. We accelerated like normal when you go to pass somebody. When we moved to the left, the Ford truck moved left into that lane too, abruptly,” Raniseth recounted. “The Ford truck was in front of us, but not completely. We were probably just starting to get bumpers close. Dan was braking at the time, and then started to move back to the right side.”

Raniseth said it was then the Ford also moved back over to the right side, but at an angle to cut them off. The Ford then veered toward the ditch and managed to correct back toward the road momentarily, but then rolled and wound up at rest in the ditch.

Emergency crews attended the scene and found Stanley Dick, who was 32, on the side of the road after being ejected from the truck. Dick died from his injuries while being airlifted to hospital in Calgary. Both Raniseth and Newsham were arrested on scene.

Raniseth was also asked Friday if the officer who’d earlier told them to stop had been firm with that directive, and he said no.

“Do you agree that when you saw Stanley Dick, he was nowhere near your property?” Crown prosecutor Brittany Ashmore asked Newsham, who answered yes.

“You had no idea if that vehicle was stolen, correct?” she asked him of observing the Dakota for the first time.

“Correct,” he said.

“Didn’t see him do anything to Karl, correct?”

“Correct.”

Newsham went on to explain that he’s lived in Delburne for over a decade and that, “When you Iive in Delburne long enough, you know which vehicles belong where. RCMP have advised to report suspicious vehicles.”

Newsham explained his frustration with how his property, where he runs an auto-body shop, has been victimized by thieves at least a dozen times since 2015. He said he’s tried reinforced gates, security cameras, and even parking his tow truck across the gate.

Court also heard on Friday from forensic collision reconstructionist Patrick Ryan with Graham Ryan Consulting. Ryan, who has provided assistance with more than 4000 collisions, has done work for and alongside the RCMP.

Using a relatively new simulation software program called PC Crash, Ryan says he was able to use evidence while making some select “reasonable” assumptions to recreate the fatal crash.

“The intent wasn’t to say this is necessarily what happened, but is it possible to an acceptable degree of precision? It took relatively little effort to say yes, this is most plausible,” Ryan said, adding that he’s confident when he says the end result of the collision was due to the manner in which Dick was steering the Ford at the time.

“There are other possible explanations. Contact almost certainly did very little to change the direction of both vehicles.” Ryan also noted that other scenarios he simulated didn’t match up with tire marks found on the road.

Ryan also testified that the magnitude of the force between the two vehicles was “trivial,” in his opinion. However, he did admit that in his simulation he did not take into account the “jacked up” height and larger tires of Newsham’s truck.

Ashmore pointed out this could change the vehicle’s centre of gravity.

After the crash, Newsham said he did a pair of U-turns, eventually stopping on the shoulder and shining his lights on the rolled Ford. Newsham also admitted during his testimony that there were several opportunities for him to stop and call the entire thing off.

Proceedings will resume Monday at 10 a.m. with closing arguments, after which the jury will begin deliberating.

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Testimony wraps up at manslaughter trial for 2016 crash

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